The Importance of going beyond the numbers

It is hardly worth saying that finances such
as cash flow, costs, profits etc. is
what drives a large quantity of business decisions. This makes sense on many
levels, if you don’t have the financial resources to pay for a certain
decision, then it can’t be done. More often than not, following the money can
help point you to the more successful parts of your business and show you where
future investment should be aimed. Yet, numbers cannot always tell you the full
story. They may even lead you down a wrong path if you make the bottom line
your sole priority. Therefore, you need to ask yourself what alternatives there
are to solely examining the budget sheets, to work out where to take your
company.

Your company may benefit from something such
as a brand
tracker, which helps a company by showing them how their
brand is performing within their market, and against key competitors. It goes
beyond simple commercial success. The problem with which it can show you where
you have been successful in the past, and not where you’re going to succeed in
the future. Also, when it comes to money coming in and out of a company, there
has to be an element of speculation. For
example, if a company that made different foodstuffs added a certain ingredient
to a product they made, then that product skyrocketed in popularity, it would
be a fair assumption of the company that it was the new ingredient that did
this. It cannot be shown, by the finances alone, that this is the case. There
could be external factors that affect the
product, something that cannot be shown in figures alone.

A brand tracker is also able to give you an
impartial review of how your brand is doing, and allow you to see your brand
from a different perspective, one from outside the company. Thus, it can help
you see your brand without those rose tinted glasses that may distort your own
impartial view. In fact, this is where brand trackers are most similar to the
finances of a business, in the fact they are both impartial and cannot be
distorted. Thus, the balance sheets, teamed up with a brand tracker, can be a
very strong combination, that gives you a more full rounded picture of the
current state of your company and brand, and can allow you to see the success
of your past, while being able to signpost the directions for your company’s
future.